Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Many Perks!

Homeschooling has its ups and downs like any other project or lifestyle that we adopt, but after having homeshooled for awhile now, I have found that the benefits far outweigh the negatives. In fact, there are many perks that make me a happier mama!

Just the fact that I don't have to rush out every morning to get the kids to school on time is a major perk! ha!Another huge perk for us is the fact that my kids can spend a lot of time with their Great-grandparents.We often go to breakfast at the Greats house. We bring some of our work and spend a couple hours there. Grandpa sings hymns and prays with the kids. It's memories my kids wouldn't have if we didn't choose this lifestyle.plus my Grandpa is a math wiz (big perk)

Monday,we celebrated Grandparents Day by inviting them over for breakfast at our house this time. Grandma (my mom) was able to make it too before she had to go to work:) The kids enjoyed serving their Grandparents breakfast. We had the table set up and "played restaurant."

Another perk is I am not just teaching my children.I am instilling a love of learning and a thirst for knowledge.My kids LOVE school!

This week Austin is begging me to write a report on Helicopters. Faith, has completed 5 book reports because she LOVES to read. (on things that interest her) I like to go with what they are showing interest in and rent books and print unit studies up on those things. I also encourage them to do a lot of research on their own.

With the largest wildfires in Southern California history going on, the kids and I have been praying for the firefighters every morning during our bible time. After making a Starbucks run (another perk) we went to watch the firefighting helicopters fill up on fire retardant.(and you guessed it the kids did research on it)

another perk my 10yr old gets to spend a lot of time with his 4yr old brother. They are so close yet so far in age.and he's learning right along side him.

photography by Austin...another perk!

As you can see, homeschooling is indescribable and exhilarating because there really are not a lot of rules to get in the way. Instead,I can try and be creative and personalize my children's education. (Which I am having a lot of fun with) Sure, there are going to be times when my children need to learn things that I don't know but since they love learning and know how to find information I will not have to pound the information into their heads. They will go discover the information for themselves because they want to know it. Just being home with my kids all day everyday in this short season of life really is the best perk of all! What are some of your perks?

19 comments:

Thanks again for the wonderful breakfast served by my precious grandchildren. Talk about a perk! It was a great way to start any day. Keep up the good work. You will reap eternal benefits as well as earthly perks.

My first five kids are all older, in fact we have 7 grand-kids but our newest son is only 4 months and I have been thinking of home schooling him. I wish I had home schooled all of them. I just wonder if home schooling an only child would shelter him too much.

you've really got my head churning about this homeschool stuff. really. never thought i would even consider it, but who knows? at least i've got three more years to pray about it and decide. love when you share about homeschool, especially the specifics.

ha! i was thinking about it so much i just typed in 'homeschool' as my google account username while signing in to leave this comment! hahaaa! i'm losing it!

I love not having to say "hurry" or "rush" in the morning. I love having cuddle time, in my bed, when they wake up. I can't imagine them being gone all day long. We did it one year for my son, and it was AWFUL!! Homeschooling is awesome!!!

I love the perks, too! We get to go to Community Bible Study together on Wed. mornings. We get to read more together, eat lunch together, and the kids have recess together. My boys are 7 years apart and I love seeing them play together and with the girls, too. We are so blessed to be able to homeschool our kids!

I'm so glad we decided to homeschool again this year. One of my perks is being able to recognize and take advantage of those "teachable moments" when their eyes light up and they are fixed on every word I'm saying. I love seeing those eyes shine and the light bulbs go on...then hearing their feedback.

You guys are SO blessed with such great family. You have the best parents and Grandparents. They are all so kind, loving and sweet. Your kids are blessed to be able to have these moments with them :) I love this post. You're such a great Mommy Bridget!

I agree with the perks you mentioned, plus just having that precious one-one-one time with the kids and really getting to know them. I love the flexibility of it, too. I am thankful we can sit down each morning and do our devotions together, without rushing. We use a devotional in which each of us has one geared for our age, and we are all in the same Bible passage.

What a blessing for your kids to have grandparents and great-grandparents that know the Lord!

What a blessing...for your kids, grandkids and for you! Love reading your blog...thanks for letting us peek into your lives and sharing all your creative ideas. I think this is how the modern-day church works as a body of Christ...through the blogsphere! :-) Encouraging and inspiring and exhorting each other! Thanks, sister!!

I am "waiting", just like the song in the background of your blog on the time I pray God will give to me with my boys!!! We FINALLY sold our home and passed our inspection yesterday, so I pray that as we are submitting our lives to God we will find ourselves in a new season I will no longer be a full-time working outside the home Mommy!! Anyone who would be willing to say a prayer on our behalf would be truly appreciated! Thank you so much for reminding us of what truly DOES matter in this life!

WE LOVE Playdough!! :-) thank you for sharing. On National Grandparents Day, Sunday September 13th, Grandchild Connection was launched. Grandchild Connection is a service that strengthens the bond between grandparents and grandchildren. Grandchild Connection allows distant grandparents and grandchildren to develop close, meaningful relationships by utilizing today's technology of video conferencing. As part of the "VideoVisit" experience, we coach grandparents in educational and social activities that enhance the bonds they share with their grandchildren, and we provide the tools to achieve that end. We have launched our website today, National Grandparents Day, September 13th, 2009Come visit us @ grandchildconnection dot com

That is amazing that you can do that. I know your children will cherish that forever. I know what you mean about getting out the door. It's a pain, especially when your daughter wants to walk up the steep hills just to get to school. You are so blessed!

I wish I had more years to contemplate. . .I enjoy teaching 3 hours a day in the public school I work, but the homeschool idea keeps lurking in my mind....Love the pics. it looks like you may have been at Bracket Field. My husband and kids ride their bikes their often.

DISCLAIMER: Don't expect to get perfect spelling, sentence structure, or even be able to follow my train of thought.

Meet our family, we call ourselves the "Road Schooling Ryan's." We know how fast kids grow up and we want to make the most of these precious years with them. We gave up living in a traditional house to travel the US with them. We are making memories that we will remember for a lifetime. We are so excited to "roadschool" and know that we will all learn so much on this adventure. We are excited to see what God has planned for our family. We have been to 38 states and have helped out in organizations like, Save Our National Parks, Safe Haven Family Shelter, Sower Ministries, Habitat for Humanity, and Passport in time, which helps preserve history around the US and much more. We started our trip on Nov. 23rd 2009..... With 5 kids and a dog living in an RV traveling to many places...Let's just say, I could write a book but I'll blog for now. Enjoy!

We made it home safe after traveling to 38 states and over 20,000 miles in 1o months. We are enjoying this new season in life. Here's to a new adventure!

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